Rose Manning
Rose Manning is a fictitious character in the Dreams to Reality continuity, having appeared in the web series and novel series incarnations as the principal of Eagle Creek Junior High School in the web series and as assistant principal of Eagle Creek High School in the novel series. She is the single mother to Katie Manning, who is also a student at the same school (junior high or high school, depending on the incarnation). In the web series, she is murdered by Hal Walker during a shooting rampage at the school, leaving Katie as an orphan and open to the evil influence of the Pearla Avatar. It is unknown at this time whether the character of Rose will meet a similar fate in the novel series. Character History In the Web Series (2000-2004) The Day Two Students Got Sent to the Hospital (May 24, 2000) One late spring day at Eagle Creek Junior High School, eighth grader Melinda Flint was sent to Rose's office by the school's science teacher, Mrs. Jackson, after Melinda got into a physcial altercation with another student, eighth-grader Nicole Halloway. Melinda claimed that Nicole had attacked her and was trying to kill her before Mrs. Jackson came over and pulled Nicole off of her and sent them both to the office. Melinda went on to say that on their way up the stairs to the office, Nicole tried to kill her again, so she accidentally pushed Nicole down the stairs. This came as a shock to Rose, who asked Melinda if Nicole was still alive. Melinda said that she didn't know and had been to scared to check, but did say that Nicole was likely still unconscious at the base of the stairway. Rose ordered Melinda to remain in the office and to get comfortable before rushing off to check on Nicole. Later, Rose returned to her office just in time to hear Melinda tell seventh-grader Brandon Danber that Nicole was lucky Melinda hadn't done something like this before. This infuriated Rose, who ordered Melinda into her office and slammed the door behind them, where she demanded to know if Melinda pushed Nicole down the stairs on purpose. Melinda began to defend herself against the accusation, so Rose told her that if Melinda lies right now, her punishment will be more severe and Melinda finally admitted that she pushed Nicole down the stairs deliberately. Rose demanded to know why, and was stunned by Melinda's casual response of, "Because she was getting on my nerves." Melinda explained that Nicole took her boyfriend away from her and liked to rub it in her face every chance she got, so when Melinda told Nicole exactly what she thought of her, Nicole attacked her. Melinda's account of the events that followed were that Mrs. Jackson broke up the fight and sent them out of the class, and at the top of the stairs, Nicole attacked Melinda again (a falsehood), and so in order to get Nicole away from her and out of her life, Melinda pushed Nicole, and she fell down the stairs. Rose is shocked that everything that had happened here, between Nicole's injuries, the fight she and Melinda had, and the publicity that would now come to the school because of Nicole's accident was over a boy. Melinda confirmed this to be the case, and a frustrated Rose said that it was obvious that there's an underlying story dealing with the hatred between Nicole and Melinda, but made it clear to Melinda that should any medical problems arise with Nicole due to Melinda's actions, she would be expelled and arrested. Melinda asked her what happens if Nicole does recover, and Rose told her that as of that moment, she is now suspended for ten school days. Melinda asked about the upcoming dance, prompting a furious Rose to snap at her to "Forget the damn dance!" and informed her that her ten-day suspension will last through the final day of the school year, June 8. Melinda then asked about her final exams, and Rose told her to come to school on June 12 and June 13 and she can take her final exams then, warning that had this incident occurred the following day, her suspension would have carried over to the first day of the next school year, meaning she would have gotten no credit for her final exams and thus would failed her eighth grade year and would have had to repeat it. Melinda felt she should be grateful that it happened this day, then, but Rose yelled at her that she should be gratefull that she doesn't call the police right now and have her arrested, but pointed out that Nicole and her parents might do that anyway. When Melinda asked what would happen to her for the remainder of the day, Rose said she'd be staying right there in the office. Rose would eventually leave the office for an unknown amount of time, but when she returned to the office, Josh Poncek was confronting Melinda about pushing Nicole down the stairs. She confirmed for Josh that Melinda did push Nicole down the stairs but ordered him to return to class before he could do or say anything else. Josh would then claim that he was in the office to ask her for permission for himself and Ashley Chamberlain to leave school at this point in the day in order to go to the hospital to check on Nicole and Mark Shane (who had been injured playing baseball during physical education class). Rose denied the request on the grounds that neither Josh nor Ashley would have a way to get to the hospital because neither had driven to school that day because they are too young to. Josh would then leave the office, and Rose told Melinda that she presumed that was "the boy who caused this insanity around here today." Melinda asked Rose how she knew, and Rose said that he just asked to go to the hospital to be with Nicole, "and no other Nicoles were pushed down a flight of stairs today." (DtRW #1) In the Novels (2010-present) Personality Family Background & Trivia *The character of Rose Manning was not originally intended to have a daughter, but the character of Katie was created immediately after Rose's death at the hands of Hal Walker during a school shooting rampage storyline several episodes into the web series' run. Because the character of Katie was not even created before Rose was killed off in the web series, the two never had any scenes together, though Katie was clearly devastated by her mother's death. The novel series will fully develop the mother-daughter relationship between the two, and explain where (and who) Katie's father is. *Due to the fact that the primary setting of the series will be at Eagle Creek High School in the novel series rather than at Eagle Creek Junior High School, Rose will be the assistant principal at the high school in the novel series rather than the main principal at the junior high school as she was in the web series. This is because the role of the principal at the high school has already been filled by Wallace Nielsen in the novel series. Quotes